bio

Short version…

Hailing from Bridgetown, Western Australia, Emily Barker is a compelling songwriter with a gift for weaving melody and words.

Together
with her band The Red Clay Halo, she has recorded three albums, dazzled
audiences at music festivals and seen her song ‘Nostalgia’ become the
Bafta-winning theme tune to BBC One drama Wallander starring British
actor Kenneth Branagh.

February
2011 saw the release of Almanac, attracting loads of plays on BBC 6
Music, Radio 2 and Radio 4’ Loose Ends. A stream of sold-out UK tour
dates followed, culminating in a rapturously received show at London’s
St Giles-In-The-Fields church at which Almanac was performed in its
entirety including a stunning, stark version of Pause. This song has
since been used as the theme tune to the BBC2 noir thriller The Shadow
Line which received critical acclaim.

The band’s albums are entirely self-financed and released on Emily’s own imprint Everyone Sang.

“This is a dream of a record. A new Marling, then? No, Barker offers something else..." - BBC Music editor’s choice Feb 2011

Full Version...

Hailing from Bridgetown, Western Australia, Emily Barker is
a compelling songwriter with a gift for weaving melody and words. Her
talent is perfectly complimented by the magnificent arrangements of her
band The Red Clay Halo, whose rootsy ensemble playing underpins Barker’s
agile vocal blend of strength and fragility.

Together they have recorded three albums. The first was ‘Photos.Fires.Fables.’ (2007) - an eclectic tapestry of old-time narratives weaving gothic stories of fire, tragedy, love and hard lessons…

‘sharply
observed, original songs …adventurously embellished by gypsy flourishes
and haunting desert echoes that’d be at home on a Calexico album’ –
Uncut

“This is a gorgeous, sincere voice that grabs you and won’t let go” - The Sun

Followed by ‘Despite The Snow’ (2008) - recorded in just 4 days over a snowy Easter weekend in Norfolk. Critically
acclaimed in the UK and Australian music press, its opening track
‘Nostalgia’ became the Bafta-winning theme tune to BBC One drama
Wallander starring British actor Kenneth Branagh. The music went on to
win a BAFTA and a Royal Television Award.

“Stripped free of studio frippery and all the better for its carefree simplicity” **** - Q Magazine

"The hills have yet to be emptied of gold if you know where to look.” - The Times

February
2011 saw the release of ‘Almanac,’ immediately attracting strong
support from BBC radio with sessions for Cerys Matthews on 6 Music and
Radio 4’s Loose Ends, and single Little Deaths picked as record of the
week on Nemone’s 6 Music show. A stream of sold-out UK tour dates
followed, culminating in a rapturously received show at London’s St
Giles-In-The-Fields church at which Almanac was performed in its
entirety including a stunning, stark version of Pause. This song has since been used as the theme tune to the BBC2 noir thriller The Shadow Line which received critical acclaim.

“This is a dream of a record. A new Marling, then? No, Barker offers something else..." - BBC Music editor’s choice Feb 2011

The band’s albums are entirely self-financed and released on Emily’s own imprint Everyone Sang, with Almanac being jointly funded by spareroom.co.uk and a pledgemusic.com fan-funded campaign.

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About us

Walking Horse is a record label based in Western Australia. We specialise in Indie, Alt. Country, Folk and anything we like the sound of. For information about sending demos, or applying for Internships and other enquires, see our contact page.

Stable Media

Stable Media is Walking Horse's sister and was established to meet the needs of artists who were unsigned to a label but were looking for help with publicity, career development and distribution.

MGM

MGM Distribution (Metropolitan Groove Merchants) is the largest independent distributor of Australian music and music related merchandise and was established in April 1998 by Sebastian Chase.